10 essential facts about the runoff Uruguayan elections

by | Nov 25, 2014 | Elections, The Americas

  1. On November 30, Uruguayans will head back to the polls to elect a successor to Jose “Pepe” Mujica.
  2. During the first round, Tabare Vazquez, candidate for the Broad Front, received 1,134,187 votes (47,8%) while Luis A. Lacalle, representing the National Party, received 732,601.
  3. A total of 2,620,791 registered voters are expected at the precincts.
  4. In the first round, 2,293,788 voters cast a valid vote with an impressive 88% turnout.
  5. Since 1946, Uruguay has held 13 Presidential elections with an average turnout of 80%.
  6. Voting became compulsory in Uruguay in 1971.
  7. The elected president will hold office from 2015 to 2020.
  8. In Uruguay, the President may not serve consecutive terms. That is one of the reasons, the Jose Mujica, who’s been coined by Vladimir Hernandez of BBC Mundo as “the world’s poorest president”, is not a candidate.

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